From Victim to Culprit
by Le Patient
Summary: Jordan Jackley's life is torn to pieces at the hands of Gotham's favorite sociopathic clown, who is hellbent on discovering the Batman's identity and will go to any lengths to unmask him.


This is my first fanfiction for anything (ever), so please bear that in mind. Thanks for reading, and ratings + reviews are always appreciated!

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><p>"Jordan, would you mind paying attention to me while I'm speaking to you?"Jordan snapped back to reality and found herself waiting in line with her mother at the main branch of the Gotham National Bank. "Sorry, I was thinking about school," Jordan apologized.<p>

"Really? The grades you've been getting lately don't support that idea." Her mother huffed, punching in her PIN number on one of the bank's ATM machines.

Jordan rolled her eyes and replied, "Sorry, then."Jordan never really valued her education after moving to Gotham. She found it was more important to keep herself safe and out of trouble rather than study all of her life."Whatever. I left my card in the car outside- stay here, okay? And don't talk to strangers!" Ms. Jackley said, and then began to walk towards the exit of the bank.

Jordan leaned on the wall supporting the ATM machines and considered her life. Had she made the right choice in moving to Gotham to stay with her mother? It was better than the conservative hick town she had previously occupied, but then again, she had left her friends and former flames the notorious criminals in Gotham had initially scared her, she found herself content with her mother's upper end apartment in one of the few nicer areas of the city. Jordan heard a door slamming from the offices next to her, but figured that it wasn't important enough to draw her was nearly about to check the ATM machines for forgotten change in the deposit slot when she again heard a collection of gasps from the room behind her.

Straining her ears, she could hear screams as well. She was surprised- what could possibly happen in a bank (and on a slow day at that) that could garner that kind of reaction? She barely considered the fact that the bank could be getting robbed, but she also recalled that she would have heard police sirens.

Confident that she could certainly get to the bottom of this, Jordan quickly rounded the nearest corner. Peering down a balcony into the bank's lobby, she too gasped at the scene unfolding below her.

Underneath the balcony, one of Gotham's most vile crime kings, the Joker (and several henchmen) were holding bank employees and bank customers hostage.

"Boys and girls, lemme interrupt this program for juuust a few seconds of your oh-so precious time," The Joker began in his usual shrill tone."Uh, you business geeks remember that case study saying your BlackBerries, ChuckBerries, and PoisonBerries gave you brain cancer?" He chuckled, winking at a male hostage in a rather nice business suit."Well, we wouldn't want that, would we? I want us to have a great time tonight, and we don't need any phones ruining our party!" He pouted, rubbing his fingers together, "My friends and I are running a little low on funding. Let's just wait until word of our, uh, arrival spreads until we make demands, okay? We don't need everyone in this bank leaving already! The more people at a party the better, right?"

The hostages threw their phones into a pile on the floor.

Jordan cautiously watched him as he moved across the room and spoke, idly entertaining his dexterous nature with a large switchblade cradled between his fingers. She heard her cellphone emit a warning tone that meant her battery was about to run out. A sinking feeling quickly erupted in her chest, and she found herself struggling to not fall to the floor in a crumpled heap of despair.

The villain suddenly turned rigid, turned to the hostages, and raised his voice: "Uh, who was that?"

Paralyzed with fear, Jordan's eyes pleaded mercy to the hostages glancing her way. 'Oh god, I don't want to die,' she panicked, remembering the gruesome fates of the mock Batmans."I sa-aid, who wa-has that? Don't be afraid, we won't hurt you- that badly!" He snickered, elongating his syllables for emphasis as he threw his hands up into the air in mock frustration.

"Well, kids, you leave me with no choice. Am I gonna have to blo-how someone's brains out today?" He said, raising an eyebrow.

Jordan took a few seconds to scrutinize the criminal with all the knowledge she harnessed in her school's mandatory self defense wretched and twisted his psyche was, Jordan found that the criminal's jerky body movements and bizarre gestures suggested a healthy body, and that he could probably could (and would) murder her for six dollars and a Dr. Pepper. She drew herself out of her thoughts, and forced herself to watch the villain terrorize the bank below.

The Joker smacked his lips, looking around for a suitable victim. "How about this bouncing baby boy? Come on over here, kid!" He roughly grabbed a toddler from a mother's grasp and positioned him on a bank used the counter's attached ball-point pen to tie the small child's arm to the counter, thwarting any attempts of mistake. The boy attempted to keep a brave visage, despite his quivering lip.

The Joker's eyes bore into him like a ravenous animal, eager to devour anything. The boy still stayed a few moments, the Joker's patience wore thin.

"Well, kid? Are you gonna squeal? What are you waiting for?" The criminal snapped, slamming his hands on the table.

"B'man," the child muttered.

Joker's expression changed from that of annoyance to rage within a matter of seconds. "What was that?" He growled, clenching his fists and moving closer to lurk over the child.

"Batman," The boy repeated himself.

Joker's lips started to quiver in a maniacal snicker, and he pulled the child as close to him as the pen chain allowed. "Let me get this straight," he whispered in the child's ear. "You're waiting for the Batman?" The child nodded, and the Joker suddenly shoved him across the banking table as far as the chains let him.

"The Batman, my dear boy, will not be joining us tonight." The clown sneered, pulling a sharp blade from his coat pocket.

"However, I don't mind making an example of you. See how cuh-razy the Bat has made Gotham?" He shrugged, shards of light reflecting off of his knife. The Joker drew the boy closer to him again, smiling suggestively. "Perhaps I should tell you how I got these sc-"

"It was her," the boy's mother interrupted the clown's anecdote with a wail, raising her finger to point at the Jordan on the balcony. "Don't hurt my baby, please! It was her!"


End file.
